Around the World Roundup: 'Night,' 'Pursuit' Lead

by Conor Bresnan

Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum

January 22, 2007

Night at the Museum cooled to $14.4 million from 35 markets, but still led the foreign weekend again. The family comedy's sole new territory was Uruguay, where it posted the fifth-best opening ever at $38,000 from 13 screens. The overall total stands at $173.2 million with nearly all of Europe and Latin America complete.

Holding well in second place, The Pursuit of Happyness earned $12.9 million for a $31.2 million total. The drama opened at first place in Germany with excellent $3.2 million from 515 screens and at second in neighboring Austria with $252,948. In second weekends, Pursuit fell only 29 percent in the United Kingdom ($10.4 million total) and 16 percent in Italy ($11 million). The latter was all the more remarkable considering that local movie, Manuale d'amore 2 (Capitoli successivi), raked in $8.1 million from 590 screens in one of the ten best openings of all time there.

Playing more strongly overseas than at home, Rocky Balboa made $11.2 million and its early total is $23.8 million. The sports drama dominated the U.K. with a $6.9 million start from 404 screens. It also opened in the Netherlands to a decent $241,484 from 58 screens. Holdovers are where Balboa took a beating, dropping more than 50 percent in Spain, Italy and Mexico.

Deja Vu rose to fifth internationally with $6.8 million from 42 territories for a $90.1 million total. Leading the weekend was Australia's top-ranked $1.9 million debut from 292 screens, but perhaps more impressive was the Philippines' $225,000, which was a new record for star Denzel Washington.

An eclectic mix of older titles generated $3 million or more each over the weekend. Blood Diamond nabbed $3.1 million, buoyed by Hong Kong's $354,000 opening as well as New Zealand's $183,383 ($13.2 million international total). The other Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, The Departed, added $4.3 million for a $133.3 million total, fueled by Japan's top-ranked $2.4 million debut from 361 prints.

A scene from Happy Feet

Happy Feet generated $4.2 million for a $158.3 million total as it waits for its March 17th debut in Japan. Russia's $876,000 opening helped The Prestige conjure $3.4 million ($45.6 million total). The Holiday's $4.2 million was by Mexico's $1.8 million second weekend ($109.8 million total).

South Korea's $1 million second-weekend drove Eragon's $4.1 million ($160.5 million total). Casino Royale fell to $6 million but its tally stands at $399.6 million. Finally, Babel claimed $4.3 million with decent openings like Argentina's $189,648, Brazil's $372,299 and Chile's $108,368 ($44.1 million total).

Meanwhile, Dreamgirls had limited but strong openings in Australia and New Zealand. Down Under, the musical landed in fifth place with $974,480 from 139 screens, while New Zealand notched a third place $142,501 from 35 screens.

Scoring solid business for a genre that's usually relegated to video-only releases overseas, John Tucker Must Die surprised in Germany with $1.2 million start from 402 screens. The teen comedy has grossed $19.4 million thus far.

An Inconvenient Truth was potent in its debut in Japan ($234,507 from 22 screens) but bombed in Italy ($38,519 from 20 prints). France has been the environmental tract's best market at $4.1 million total, and the overall tally is $17.9 million.